Finding Tallahassee
by edmagi01
Summary: Emma Swan had been close to her happy ending, once. Then it disappeared. She found it in an unexpected place; a town home to fairy tale characters, and-more importantly-her parents. Yet something is missing; a hole in her heart that can't be filled. But while Emma is dealing with this, a new villain has entered Storybrooke. One with the ability to rip apart her happy ending, again.
1. Prologue

**Hello! Thank for reading! This is my first fan fiction on here, so hopefully it's good. Please review! _(This fanfic is also published on Wattpad, in case you see it there)_**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or the characters.**

Prologue (Emma)

Tallahassee.

Emma took one more look around her. At the buildings, at the park in front of her, rusty and deserted. At the faded paint on the walls of the place she had been calling home for the past two years. She stared at the ground, at the cracked sidewalk and the grass trying to fill in the missing chunks of it. Something caught her attention, a shiny thing nestled in between one of the many cracks and she crouched down to pick the object up, discovering it was a small, simple circular pendant on a silver chain.

Slipping it into her pocket, she opened the door to the Yellow Bug. Emma sat down in the driver's seat, clutching her swan necklace as a wave a memories hit her; memories of what could have been. One lone tear slipped down her cheek. She let it, before promising herself that she was done crying. Tallahassee was supposed to be her happy ending, but happy endings only existed in fairy tales, she knew that now. Now it was time to move on with her life, to forget about _him_ , about the what ifs and about the little boy that was now long gone.

Sighing, she gripped the steering wheel tightly and prepared herself for a long, lonely journey far from her 'happy ending'.

* * *

How did this happen? This morning she had woken up to work on her latest case, almost forgetting that it was her 28th birthday. It hadn't mattered anyway. No one would care and she was just fine with that.

That was until a 10 year old boy by the name of Henry had knocked on her door and announced that he was her son. She let him in, the whole time her mind racing, until she looked into his eyes. Those were _his_ eyes. The eyes of the person who she had been trying to forget. The eyes of the person she most definitely did not want to encounter in her life again. She knew right then and there- with the help of her superpower- that this boy was not lying, that he was her son. But she also knew that somewhere, someone would be looking for him, and she had to get him back home.

Which is how she ended up driving her car to Storybrooke, Maine. Who even names a town Storybrooke? The kid- her son, she had to remind herself- was sitting in the backseat rambling about fairy tales and curses and a book. He seemed so sure about his ideas: that the people living in his town were characters from his story book and that his mother was the Evil Queen, that she was almost worried for him. It wasn't her problem though; it _had_ been a closed adoption.

After dropping him off at his house, she took off. She still stood by her decision from years ago, and he had found his best chance with the mayor. She quickly glanced at the seat beside her, noticing that the boy left his book. _He sure is a smart kid_ , she couldn't help but think, shaking her head. Focusing back on the road, she saw, too late, the wolf standing in the middle of the road, just in front of the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign, directly in her path.


	2. Chapter 1

**_Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! I've been writing a lot lately, so I'm back with another chapter. Thank you for the follows and favorites and reviews :)_**

* * *

 _Chapter 1: Finding Dead People (Emma)_

As sheriff of Storybrooke, Emma had gotten some strange requests. That morning, when the man came in, his request seemed normal, thankfully.

"Hello. You are the sheriff, right?" the old man asked. He was a bit shorter than Emma, with startling blue eyes and messy white hair that stuck up as if he had just been struck by lightning.

Emma nodded, "That's me. What can I help you with?" She crossed her arms in front of her, preparing herself for whatever came her way. With the number of curses that had passed through Storybrooke, anything could happen.

"I am looking for my s-son," his voice shook slightly, almost as if he was afraid.

She nodded again; looking for people was her specialty. Plus, most people in Storybrooke were looking for lost family members. "Can you tell me what he looks like?"

This time, the man visibly trembled. He seemed very unsure of what he was about to say. "Last time I s-saw him, he had d-dark, almost black hair. His skin was very p-pale, and he had blue eyes like, like mine."

"What do you mean, last time you saw him?" she questioned.

"You see, I have not seen him in a long time. S-since he was a child. And sometimes he turns into a b-bird. And he might be d-dead." By then he seemed to be fighting back tears. Charming suddenly burst into the room, making the old man jump and turn around quickly, eyes wide open.

"Is everything alright?" Emma's dad asked, eyes scanning the room for any trouble. His blue eyes fell on her and she nodded almost imperceptibly. Then his eyes turned towards the man and Emma thought she saw a flicker of recognition. She would ask him about that later. Her parents didn't keep secrets from her, right?

Pushing her thoughts away, she tried to reassure her father. "Dad, I've got this, it's okay. Can you please go tell Henry and Mary Margaret I'm going to be late? Thanks." She practically shooed him out the door, not waiting for a response. As Emma turned back towards the old man, she noticed he was gone. The quivering person had disappeared into thin air. It was really weird, but she shrugged it off. There was more important stuff to do at the moment.

That left Emma alone to her thoughts, and she realized that she had quite a similar situation with Mr. Gold a few days before, except he was way more forceful in his demands.

 _"I need to find someone, so we're leaving today. Pack your bags," he stated, almost as if he was saying he needed to buy milk. This had sent both Mary Margaret and Henry into a panicked flurry, leaving them asking questions like crazy._

 _Emma had calmed down enough to ask, "Wait, find someone? Who?"_

 _"My son," was his simple response._

Back then, Emma had not known that how powerful those words were. Even now, she replayed the moment in her head, wondering what would have happened if she had said no. She would have risked Mr. Gold's wrath, sure, but maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts of regret. She put her red leather jacket on, grabbed her keys, walked out the door and got into her Bug.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late! I had some stuff to take care of at the station," Emma apologized to her mom and Henry. She briefly looked through the rear view mirror at Henry's beaming face and Mary Margaret's quiet smile.

"Umm... Why are you guys smiling?" Emma asked.

"Nothing. We're just happy to see you, Emma," Mary Margaret smiled mysteriously. She was not about to reveal anything to Emma yet.

"Yeah Mom," Henry agreed, nodding, his bright smile dimming down slightly.

"Okay..." Emma trailed off, obviously not convinced by their explanation. "I can't believe you were able to leave Neal at home," Emma shook her head.

Mary Margaret started to reply, "It was difficult, but-"

"But I convinced her!" Henry interrupted, and although Emma couldn't see him she could almost picture him grinning.

"So, want to tell me why we're headed into the woods?"

A memory floated into Emma's mind, one of the recent ones she'd been trying to suppress.

 _When they had reached the apartment building of Gold's son, he had hesitated slightly. This hadn't escaped Emma, so she asked, "What's wrong? This the right place?"_

 _Mr. Gold readjusted his grip on his cane, nodding slightly. "Yes, it is."_ She wished it hadn't been. Maybe she wouldn't be the mess she was now.

"Mom, who's that?" Henry's question pulled her from her thoughts. "Look, Mom! Stop!" Henry screamed, pointing frantically at something on the side of the road, causing her to slam her foot on the brakes.

Her eyes widened as she saw what was on the side of the road. Henry immediately opened the door of the car and jumped out, running quickly towards someone. Someone who was supposed to be dead. Emma couldn't believe it. She sat frozen, hands gripping the steering wheel while Mary Margaret calmly got out of the car, not having noticed the person just yet, a smile on her face. Emma whispered a name, ever so quietly, thick with her swirling emotions. "Neal..."


	3. Chapter 2

_Hi! Thanks for all the follows and favorites! Thanks to maressaonce and Guest for the reviews! I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry it took forever, somehow wasn't working._

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Lost Boys (Neal)_

Neal opened his eyes, then sat up straight. _Emma_ , was his first thought. Then, _where was he?_ He blinked a few times, adjusting to the light. He'd been floating in darkness for so long that even the small amounts of light that filtered through the leaves blinded him. The ground was a mixture of grass, dirt and twigs, which scratched the palm of his hand as he tried to stand up. Once he was standing, he tried fruitlessly to brush the dirt off his pants and turned around, scanning his surroundings. His eyes fell on the green 'Entering Storybrooke' sign.

"Storybrooke?" a whisper of a voice said beside him. Neal turned quickly, eyes scanning the area to his right, where he heard the voice. Standing beside him was a man with bright blue eyes and pale, almost white skin. The man was about a head shorter than Neal. He was thin and didn't look like much of a danger, but Neal did come from the Enchanted Forest and he knew not to judge a book by its cover.

"Who are you?" Neal questioned. His voice didn't sound at all like he expected it to. He hadn't spoken in a while, though, and the world seemed to be spinning slightly. He wasn't sure if he was in a dream or what; the last thing he could remember was dying, so his papa could help save Emma and Henry and the rest of Storybrooke from Zelena. He wasn't sure how much time had passed or what had happened. Focusing on the present, he watched the man's slow reaction. It took him a few seconds to register what Neal was saying, then his eyes opened wide with fear as he jumped backwards a tiny bit, only to land awkwardly on a log and fall sideways. He quickly jumped up and- to Neal's amazement- turned into a bird and flew away gracefully. He stood still, puzzled for a moment, before his stomach growled and reminded him of the fact that he hadn't eaten in a while. And he still needed to figure out what was going on.

Keeping along the main road, Neal tried to ignore his stomach and the images of delicious food that kept floating into his brain. Of course he'd dealt with hunger before- he specifically remembered when he was smaller, in London- but this time felt different, like he hadn't eaten in years. And maybe he hadn't, because he wasn't sure how much time had passed or where he was.

Regardless, it was still a good distraction from his thoughts of Emma and Henry.

He stopped suddenly, having heard a noise in some bushes to his left. In his hand was a stick he'd grabbed in case he needed to defend himself, which he now realized was useless as it was easily breakable and no match for magic or even a sword.

"Baelfire?" asked a familiar voice. He didn't remember who the voice belonged to, but he'd come across a lot of people in his lifetime- many of them who, despite his protests, still insisted on calling him Baelfire- and the leaves were muffling and distorting the sound.

"What the hell?" he muttered. He crossed the road and neared the bush. Ignoring the cautious voice inside of him, he tried to get a better view of what was behind the bush.

As soon as he touched it, something jumped out. Well, three kids jumped out. Two dark skinned boys with brown eyes, who looked very similar and a taller boy with tanned skin, who also had brown eyes, although they were of a lighter shade. It only took Neal seconds to realize who they were: three of the Lost Boys.

The tall one stepped forward, eyes narrowed suspiciously. One of the twins was looking around-probably keeping watch (although for what, Neal had no idea)-and the other kept his gaze fixed on the ground.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"Weren't you dead?"

When the tallest boy asked this, the boy keeping watched paled, almost as if he was seeing a ghost. Which, for all Neal knew, could be true. He didn't know what he was, much less why he was alive and back in Storybrooke. He could be a ghost. Or, more likely, some dark magic brought him back. And if there was one thing his father taught him, it was that magic always came with a price. A spell like that had to have a very high price.

"I was, uhh, _dead_ ," Neal cringed at the word. "Not sure what happened. What are you boys doing out here?"

"Well, we were..." The shortest of the twins trailed off, and the tallest boy finished his sentence.

"-exploring!"

"Yeah," the shorter twin agreed, nodding vigorously.

"We were bored." The boy who hadn't lifted his face up or said anything finally did, and Neal noticed he had dried tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his concern showing on his face.

"Yep!" The boys chorused, strained smiles plastered on their faces. Neal didn't believe them and he could tell that the Lost Boys knew that, but the sound of a car made him focus his attention on the road. Coming his way was a familiar yellow bug, one that was home to some of the happier memories in his lifetime. And although the sunlight didn't allow him to see who was driving the car, he had a pretty good idea of who it was. And he wasn't sure how he felt about seeing her.

 _"It's too late, Emma," he had whispered, while Emma held him in her arms._

 _"Just hang in there. You haven't even had the chance to see Henry. For him to remember you."_

 _It hurt him, more than the pain of dying, to see Emma crying over him. So he had to reassure her. "It's okay. He doesn't need to. He just needs to know that I was a good father." He'd wanted to spend more time with his son and make a good impression on him, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen._

 _Neal struggled to take her necklace out of his pocket. "I saved this for you. To give to you again."_

 _"Take it. Go find Tallahassee. Even if it's without me." His words came out in short bursts and he could feel his life slipping away, but he had to make sure that Emma and Henry were okay._

 _"Neal," Emma sobbed. He just wanted her to smile, so he could see her happy one last time._

 _"Hey, I'll be watching over you from somewhere. Promise me. Just promise me you'll both be happy." They both needed to find happiness, even if it was without him._


	4. Chapter 3

**Sorry I haven't written anything, I've been super busy. Thank you so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews!**

 **Enjoy!**

 _:::_

 _Chapter 3: Lost Hope (Emma)_

Emma hadn't said a word to Neal since they had picked him up from the side of the road. Not when they'd driven him to the hospital, or when the doctor had said everything was normal, not even when Neal had tried to include her in the conversation. She didn't say anything the next day, or even the one after that. Not even when they'd let him out of the hospital.

What could she even say to a person who was dead but suddenly appeared perfectly healthy? Especially since that person had left her more than once.

Her silence wasn't awkward, at first, because her parents didn't talk much, mostly exchanging worried looks, while Henry filled him in on everything that had passed in the last year since he died. But then, when Mary Margaret and David left and Henry had somehow managed to drag Neal and her towards a new restaurant in Storybrooke, Henry mentioned the camping trip she, Henry, Hook, Regina and a couple of other had went on.

 _Emma was sitting at the kitchen table at one in the morning, wide awake. She hadn't been able to get much sleep, not since Zelena had been defeated, and there were heavy, dark bags under her eyes._

 _Creaking floorboards alerted her that someone was walking down the stairs. The kitchen light flipped on and soon enough she had a mug filled with hot chocolate in front of her._

 _"With cinnamon."_

 _"Thanks," Emma said, trying but failing to smile back at her mother._

 _Mary Margaret looked at her with motherly concern, and for a moment Emma felt happy. She got more looks of pity than anything else during her time in the system. "Are you okay?"_

 _"Yeah. Just couldn't sleep. I'm fine."_

 _"I might not have your superpower, Emma, but I can tell you're lying."_

 _"You know what she needs? A vacation." Her father had entered the room, making Emma feel embarrassed. What kind of 29 year-old still needed their parents when they couldn't sleep?_

 _"We can't even leave Storybrooke!" she countered, not liking the idea of a vacation. She immediately regretted saying anything, though, after seeing the disappointment in her parents' faces. At least they were trying._

 _"Oh! I have an idea! You could go camping!" They both seemed so excited about their idea, that she didn't have the heart to tell them that no matter where she went, nightmares would follow. And nightmares were the main reason for her inability to sleep._

 _She'd nodded reluctantly and agreed, "Yeah. It's not a bad idea."_

So she'd gone camping. Henry had wanted to come along, so he did, accompanied by Regina, of course. Since Hook had been supportive after everything that happened, she had invited him and everyone had, surprisingly, been okay with it. The people around her were slowly warming up to Hook, especially her mom. Of course, it hadn't happened until Archie had noticed how much he'd helped Emma. Still, after all the help Emma was receiving, she knew it wasn't helping much and her persisting nightmares were proof of that. She was quickly losing hope of ever being okay again.

"You went on a camping trip?" Neal's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

She found herself opening her mouth, finally deciding to talk. "Yeah." One word, whispered, but it was enough to pull his attention away from Henry and focus fully on Emma. It was clear that she wasn't going to say anything else, but Neal kept staring at her, brown eyes unfocused. He was lost in his own world, and the table was left in an uncomfortable silence.

Finally, it was interrupted by a red-haired waitress who brought their starters. "Enjoy!" she squeaked, before rushing to attend to other customers. After Snow White's curse had brought more people back to Storybrooke, a few new businesses had popped up, including the restaurant they were currently in. She had been craving a grilled cheese and a hot cocoa at Granny's- something normal in this long week of weird occurrences- but her son's smiling face had convinced her otherwise. The restaurant was actually quite nice: candles flickered on almost every sturdy surface, giving the room a warm glow and illuminating the various painting of beautiful birds that filled every inch of wall space. Soft music, violins, played in the background, comforting and calming.

Emma's turbulent thoughts and the awkward silence seemed so out of place in the homey restaurant.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, buddy," Neal nodded, looking away from Emma.

"So, did anything happen when you came back to life?" Emma cringed at Henry's words and as Neal refocused on the conversation, she could tell he wasn't exactly comfortable with the question either.

"Well, uh... I think there was another person there... I-"

"What did he look like? Where is he?" Henry interrupted, swinging his head side to side as if looking for someone, his enthusiasm evident in his voice. Emma looked up, and although she tried to hide her interest, she knew Neal could see right through her. He knew her well, even after 11 (or was it 12?) years.

Neal pushed aside his bowl. All their soups were cold and long since forgotten; the conversation was way more interesting than chicken vegetable soup. Hesitating, Neal's eyes flickered in between Emma and Henry. Before he could say anything, though, Henry hopped up from his seat, saying something about needing to go to the bathroom and running away before either could react.

"So... What did you see?" Emma reluctantly asked, her green eyes slowly moving to meet his brown ones.

"I could've been dreaming. But I don't know..." Neal paused, and Emma just stared at him until he continued. "Emma, there was another man there. Pale skin, dark black hair. And then he just turned into a bird," he stopped, again, taking one look at her expression before sighing. "I know, I know. It's weird."

Emma shook her head, "No. This is good. What can you tell me about him? Is there anything else?" She could feel her excitement rising. For now she could focus on something more important than her feelings towards the newly revived Neal. Her phone started ringing, so she lifted a finger up and turned away from the table, greeting the person on the other end. It was her dad, telling her she was needed at the station. Gathering her things, she hung up quickly. "Never mind, don't tell me now. I'm going back to the station. Say bye to Henry for me."

"Okay. Bye." He said something else, but Emma missed it as she rushed out and walked towards the station, a cool breeze refreshing and preparing her for her first encounter with her father after avoiding him for a couple of days.


End file.
